Chapter 3

The cool water soothed both her tender flesh and his aching head, allowing for some high-quality frolicking. She swam like an otter, all smooth, graceful motion and uninhibited playfulness, replaced by purring approval as he showed her the tricks to having partially submerged sex ... including the one where they hung on beneath the diving board, her legs wrapped around him, holding him in her. Afterward, they walked arm in arm to the Jacuzzi, slipping into the warm water and cuddling close. After not too long, though, his headache returned, a throbbing ache that spoiled even the sensual pleasure of her soft, pliant body pressed against him.

"You really don't have to go home tonight?" he asked.

Pandora smiled up at him. "I really don't. I can stay. If you want me to, I mean?"

"Would you?" He pulled her close. "I'd really like you to stay." He hesitated for a moment, obviously troubled. "If you want to. I ... don't know exactly what you wanted out of this."

"I ... I'd like that. A lot. I just wasn't sure you'd want me to. I meant it, Gabriel ... I'm not going to ... I mean, you don't owe me anything, you know? You don't have to do anything just because it's what most people would expect. I'm not most people."

Gabriel sighed. "What do you want?"

"I ... um ... this. Just to ... be with you. To be able to be myself, to do this with someone I can trust. Again, if ... if you're willing, but if you're not, then ... a friend still, at least? Someone to talk to? I won't make any demands, either way. No strings, no expectations, just ... whatever your limits are."

Gabriel hesitated. "So ... friends with benefits, basically?"

She straightened up and slid a bit aways from him. "That sounds awful. I'm just trying to be fair ... I don't want to push. But ... that makes it sound like this ... was something cheap. And it wasn't. Not for me."

"Honestly ... I don't think that would work anyway. I like you, you know? And I don't think I could keep it at just ... friends with benefits level. I just don't know how we'd work something more than that."

She peeked up at him, uncertain but hopeful. "So ... what are you saying? What do you want?"

"I'm ... not sure. I mean, I just ... don't think I could handle not being anything more than friends for long. I'd want more."

She frowned. "O ... oh. I ... Gabriel? Can you please just ... tell me? Because I don't know what I should be feeling right now, and that makes it kinda hard to respond to you. So are you saying 'all' or 'nothing'? Cause I can't tell..."

"Oh. I ... think it's 'all'." He looked at her uncertainly. "I'm just not sure how we would work that. I mean ... would it be fair to you?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well ... think about what you'd be giving up. I mean, we couldn't really be together openly," he said.

"Oh ... I thought you understood. Honey, I couldn't openly be with anyone yet. Not anyone I'd be willing to be with, anyway. Well, I could ... but it'd be a huge hassle with my parents. But as long as I'm discreet, they don't really care what I do, so that's okay, I guess. And ... I'm not real social, anyway. I ... I don't want a status symbol. Or to be anyone else's. My idea of a, um, good relationship doesn't really have anything to do with what other people think, you know?"

Gabriel bit his lip. "I just don't want you to ... to miss out, you know?"

"On what? God, do you even have any idea how nice this has been? And I don't mean just the sex, either, I..." She looked down, scared. "I like you. That's why I did this. It wasn't just a ... a convenience, just a matter of you being a nice, clean guy in the right place at the right time. It was... you. I wanted ... you. But I was just ... willing to be realistic. Not get too ... hopeful."

Gabriel smiled. "Well, in that case ... why don't we go take a nap, and enjoy the cuddling, and afterwards we can do things together?"

She gave him a timid smile. "really?" Then she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, hard. "ohhh god..." she whispered as she drew back, then frowned, rubbing his cheek with a gentle hand. "What's wrong? You're so pale..."

"Headache. So a nap sounds really good."

"Was it ... um ... something we did?" she asked guiltily. "I mean ... too much?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't think so. I think it might be sinuses."

She kissed him again, gently. "Then come on, honey. I'll tuck you in bed and make you feel better."

"Okay."

Gabriel winced, then laughed suddenly. "Oh, my god."

Pandora looked at him worriedly. "What? You look really awful, you know..."

"I just realized what I did."

"What you did? So you do know what caused the headache, then ... why's that so funny?

Gabriel shook his head. "No, not the headache. I..." His lips twitched. "I opened Pandora's Box."

She stared at him, totally aghast, and her eyes narrowed. "You are so lucky you're sick. Because if you weren't ... I'd seriously hurt you for that."

Gabriel raised one eyebrow. "What? It wasn't that bad."

She growled. "That's a matter of opinion. I mean ... do you really think I haven't heard variations on that theme since I was 10? Lay off my name, mm'k? It's not funny. And so not voluntary."

"Sorry. I guess I should have warned you." He climbed out of the hot tub, wincing. "I'm an inveterate punster. I can't help it."

"I don't mind puns," she said, reaching to help steady him. "It's just ... well, it's a sensitive area. My parents ... were both cruel and stupid in their naming habits. I got off lucky."

Gabriel blinked. "Lucky? Compared to what?"

"My sisters."

"Oh? What did they name your sisters?" He reached for the towel, moving slowly and cautiously.

She sighed, taking the towel and wrapping it around him, drying him gently. "My little sister, Tandi? Her name is actually Tandoori. And my older sister got saddled with Argentina."

Gabriel blinked again. "Tan ... doori. Like ... the oven?"

"Like the oven. My parents ... they just took words they liked the sound of, not even knowing what they meant and slapped them together and put them on our birth certificates."

"Don't you have a middle name you could use?" he asked.

"If it were any better, don't you think we would?"

Gabriel pulled the towel off, offering it to her. "What is it?"

She wrapped the towel around her hair, squeezing out some of the excess water, and sighed again. "Well. My little sister is, officially, 'Tandoori Baleen'. And Tina? She's 'Argentina Lychee'."

"And yours?"

A blush on her cheeks, she looked down and mumbled something unintelligible.

Gabriel raised his eyebrow.

Another deep sigh. "Taiwan. Pandora Taiwan Harris. I usually just prefer 'Dora'."

Gabriel blinked, twice. "Okay. No more puns on your name." He looked thoughtful. "The story had it wrong, though."

"I should hope so ... I think if a bunch of little monsters had flown out of there, you might have freaked much, yeah?"

He grinned. "Yeah. But all I found in your box was a whole bunch of orgasms."

She laughed. "Well ... I always knew those were in there. I never managed to get them out so easily before, though." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Traditionally, Pandora's box contained all the evils of the world, all the suffering of man. I guess, when you think about it, that as a metaphor it's pretty accurate. Sex does cause more suffering than anything else. But ... well ... hopefully in this specific case, it'll be different." Her eyes softened as she looked up at him. "I never meant to bring you suffering, you know," she said quietly.

"You didn't."

"And I'm not going to. Not if I can help it. I know you're worried ... about my parents and everything ... but don't. I promise, the absolute worst they would do is just disinherit me. They'd never go after you, because that'd be admitting that their daughter could be seduced by someone like you. Idiots."

Gabriel smiled, pulling her in for a hug. "Let's go take a nap. I want to cuddle. And if they kick you out, well, I make plenty of money."